->'''Wayne:''' How do ya' like that? Your dad's invention is gonna be in the Smithsonian alongside the gramophone!->'''Adam:''' What's a gramophone?->'''Wayne:''' An early record player.->'''Adam:''' What's a record player?->'''Wayne:''' An early CD player.[[labelnote:Note]][[WebVideo/MikeJ And a CD player is...?]][[/labelnote]]-->-- ''[[Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves]]''

An adult digs up their old record collection out of the attic and their kid asks what they are. The parent nostalgically names all the singers of their day whose works have been put to their vinyl discs. Then the kids says, "No, I mean, what are records?" Followup with the parent saying, "I was ''going'' to say these made me feel young again."

A subtrope of TechnologyMarchesOn, initially fueled by the novelty of the notion that a format of media could actually become obsolete. It bears mentioning that it started cropping up in fiction before 1990, and the characters unfamiliar with records were full-grown adults, meaning that in its earliest form the trope ran on shameless hyperbole. Even in the 21st century, though, [[RealityIsUnrealistic its realism is dubious]]. Most young people do indeed know what a vinyl record is (from more recent media depictions if nothing else), even if they never listened to or owned one themselves and don't know whether a "seven inch" was an album or a single, or whether 45 rpm came before or after 33 1/3. Modern [=DJs=] still use them, for instance, and their appearance in pop culture is almost ubiquitous. They've also been [[http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029 undergoing a resurgence of popularity]] among audiophiles, hipsters and indie music fans (and even some teenagers), thanks to their retro appeal and their exemption from the abuses of the LoudnessWar. It remains to be seen if their recent semi-popularity will [[CyclicTrope show up on TV]] any time soon (in any case, there are quite a few records in the {{Franchise/Starcraft}} series, which takes place in the 26th century), but it's enough to make this a DiscreditedTrope.

This trope can also be used for 8-track tapes, of course (arguably more understandable, since many people know ''of'' 8-track but don't know what the actual cartridge looks like). It likely already applies at least to some degree for both cassette tapes and videocassettes, as both are no longer being made en-masse and generally only appeal to niche markets. Wikipedia reports that whereas 442 million cassette tapes were sold in the U.S. in 1990, by 2009, the number was just 34,000. The last major Hollywood film to be released on VHS was in 2006. This trope may eventually apply to CD's, though these still are still released regularly, and the fact that all DVD and Blu-ray players remain backwards-compatible with CD's may be a factor in slowing their demise as opposed to the tape format.

But in the age of legal streaming and downloading of music, movies, video games, and other software, sooner or later the whole notion of going into a store and buying a physical object with stored data may go into the history books (well, the online history files if books are also obsolete due to e-readers). Basically, what BeforeMyTime is to cult references, this trope is to technology.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] the record label of the same name, owned by Music/DavidWilcox. Contrast TechnologicallyBlindElders, the inverse.

----!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkoNKrBHWOo This 1984 ad]] for Atari word processor software features a variation of this. Pitchman Alan Alda extols the program's [[TechMarchesOn then-astounding features]] to a little girl, then states, "Atari may make the typewriter obsolete." "What's a typewriter?" the kid asks in response.* In an ad for a contraceptive, a little boy is shown standing on his parents' record collection which he scattered on the floor, and his plastic dinosaur is going round and round on the record player. %% Needs clarification on which brand of contraceptive.* An old CartoonNetwork bumper references this.-->"Don't touch that dial, ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Bugs & Daffy]]'' are back! Remember dials?[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]* In one episode of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', Spike and Jet receive a Betamax tape for Faye in the mail. They are initially stumped as to what it is. And even when they are told to find a VCR to play it, they go through the ruins of Tokyo to find the electronics museum and return with one for VHS. It's particularly funny that Ed, who is younger than either Jet or Spike, knew what it was. Then again, Ed is a GadgeteerGenius and PlayfulHacker.* ''Manga/SchoolLive'':** Yuki doesn't know what a radio or Polaroid camera is despite being a high school student old enough to have seen them in their heyday. Her friends know what they are and Yuki isn't the smartest kid on the block anyway.** Played for drama in the anime. Yuki took a picture with Megu-nee and the others however blocked out the memory [[spoiler:as Megu-nee died just afterwards]]. A few weeks later and she doesn't know what a Polaroid camera is anymore.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* ''ComicBook/ScoobyDooTeamUp'': In "Scooby Doo, When Are You?", a prehistoric TimeMachine brings the gang to [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones the Flintstone's time]]. In some aspects, the stone age is more modern than the gang expected but the record player makes Shaggy comment to Scooby that they must be really prehistoric.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]* The comic strip ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' did this once. In fact, the example in the trope description exactly matches the dialogue of the strip in question. Also seen in ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'', ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'', and ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS''.* Related: A ''ComicStrip/MyCage'' strip involved Norm getting weird looks for having a portable CD player with him at the gym instead of an [=MP3=] player.* ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'':** Opus took it to a large extreme, where a person wearing a brown outfit seemed to be completely unfamiliar with what a newspaper was, even when Opus tried explaining what it was ''three times'' when selling the Bloom County local newspaper. The guy, when Opus could give the simplest explanation he could give (paper), also mentions that it "feels like kleenex."** Another strip had Binkley asking his father what he meant by "winding" a watch.* One ''ComicStrip/TheBornLoser'' strip dared to take this trope to the next level:-->'''Brutus:''' To put it in terms you'll relate to, it's like an oversized CD!\\'''Wilberforce:''' What's a CD?* [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1953/03/01 This]] old ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strip would be a DoubleSubversion of this trope [[UnbuiltTrope had it existed then]].* A series in ''ComicStrip/{{Crankshaft}}'' revolved around Ed trying to replace his copy of ''Rhapsody in Blue''. The clerk at the store, who is at least in her 20s, had never heard of a record before. This was in 1988.* ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'s nightmare of being old [[http://www.garfield.com/comics/vault.html?yr=2013&addr=130614 materializes]] as him being old enough to remember records.* In ''ComicStrip/PhoebeAndHerUnicorn'', Marigold (a centuries-old unicorn) offers to take Phoebe (a little girl) to a record store. "What's a record?" In a different strip, Phoebe isn't sure what a "radio" is. Marigold's reaction in both cases: "I'm old."[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]* {{Inverted}} in ''Fanfic/{{Anthropology}}''. When Lyra is shown some music CD's, she doesn't know what they are, as in Equestria they only have vinyl records. [[spoiler:Audrey's father]] points out how unusual it is for a teenager.* Also inverted in ''Blog/AskKingSombra'', though this is kind of justified.-->'''Coffee Talk''': Splitting up is a bad idea anyway. Haven't you ''seen'' what happens in horror movies?\\'''Sombra''': No, I don't know what "movies" is. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]* In ''Honey We Shrunk Ourselves'' (a straight-to-video sequel to ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids''), Wayne Szalinski describes the gramophone to his son as "an early record player". He then has to clarify that the record player was "an early CD player".* Inverted in ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'', when Powers attempts to play a CD on a portable turntable. An early script of the second film had Felicity doing the same thing at the very end.* There's a sort of inversion in ''Film/WaynesWorld2'' (1993): Cassandra predicts a gloomier future for vinyl than what actually happened. She says vinyl will soon stop being manufactured and as a result her band's album will never be issued in the format. Vinyl took a hit in the early 90s, with [=CDs=] having overtaken the market share from cassettes, which themselves limped on for a few more years, but she was still off the mark. Her remark about her album might have been less so, however, as it may well not have been issued on vinyl at the time for the reasons stated and may not have enjoyed enough enduring popularity to justify a vinyl run in the future.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]* ''Series/TowerPrep'' showed where this trend might be going. When they find a record, CJ and Suki ask what it is. Gabe responds that "it's kind of like a hard copy of a MP3." Never once were CD's mentioned, showing that CD's might quickly become the new records.* Used in ''Series/MyFamily''.* ''Series/HomeImprovement'':** In an episode Jill offers the boys "her old 45s" for a party, to which one of them responds; "You're giving us guns?"** In another episode: Brad calls a record player a "machine that plays the black round things that spin", Tim corrects him and later Mark tells Tim that he read about record players in his history class.* An early example: ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''. When Kelly asks "What's a record?" Bud's response is, "For you? [[ReallyGetsAround The second date]]."* Cliff Huxtable in ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' does a variation on this. Cliff has a huge collection of old jazz records that he keeps in his basement as a form of "offspring repellent". If the kids come down there, he invites them to listen to his jazz records. They always refuse and run away.* Inverted in an episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' where a man has just awoken from a vegetative state after ten years and asks what an "Ip-odd" is.* Joey in ''Series/MyTwoDads'' is trying to show the kids at a party thrown for his daughter that he's still cool. He refers to his Beatles album, to which two of the kids at the party reply with "Beatles?" and "''Album''?" as if they'd never heard either term before. CD's were still freshly popular at the time, not to mention that "album" usually means "collection of songs", and not "vinyl recording." Kids were still calling them "albums" even after CD's became popular. Not to mention that there probably has never been a time since the late 60's that the Beatles ''weren't'' considered one of the greatest bands of all time, even by those who have never listened to them. The idea of teenagers in the 80's who had never heard of the Beatles is laughable.* In ''Series/MyWifeAndKids'' the children are genuinely stunned and amazed that Michael was able to turn on the TV by pressing buttons on it rather than use the remote, even asking how he did it.* ''Series/TheColbertReport'':** One episode had Stephen interviewing an NYU art-history major. The conversation went something like this:-->'''Stephen:''' Music/TedNugent has condemned your generation as lazy and apathetic. Your response?-->'''NYU Major:''' Who's Ted Nugent?-->'''Stephen:''' Well, uh, he made a bunch of hit records in the 70s.-->'''NYU Major:''' What's a record?-->'''Stephen:''' Okay, uh, it's the way we used to buy music.-->'''NYU Major:''' ''Buy'' music!?** In another episode, he explains that "for you young, hip kids", a gramophone was a type of record player, which is like a CD player, which is like an iPod, which, "for you young, ''extremely'' hip kids", is [[SubvertedTrope kind of like a record player]].* ''Series/DoctorWho'' pulls it quite often in the new series, as most people born sometime in the '80s or later have little to no frame of reference for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_call_box Police Boxes]] (other than from the cultural impact of ''Doctor Who''); improved communications technology, such as personal radios for police officers and the wider availability of home telephones [[note]]''Not'' mobile phones, as is sometimes suggested; they were already on their way out when cellphones were still the size of bricks and cost several hundred pounds[[/note]] and the shift away from foot patrols made them largely redundant. * In ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' serial "The Man Who Never Was", Sarah Jane's old editor tells her kids he still uses a typewriter. Sky's response is an innocent "What's a typewriter?" {{Justified}} because Sky was born circa 2011 and aged up by phlebotinum.* The week of Valentine's Day in 2012 had an 80s themed week for the UK ''Series/DealOrNoDeal''. It featured an interesting twist involving a cassette necklace. According to Noel Edmonds, this could have been a problem to younger viewers who wouldn't know what cassettes were.* In an episode of ''Series/VeronicaMars'' that aired in 2006, Veronica expresses surprise that "they still make vinyl". Piz tells her that they still put out dance music on vinyl, but being a record collector, he should know that vinyl was and is more extensive than that. In a previous episode he was seen with a copy of ''London Calling'' by Music/TheClash, which he said was unscratched and cost him 99c, which implies it's an original pressing, but the cover is a little ''too'' pristine not to be new, which means the writers didn't have an excuse for their ignorance either.* This comes up in the episode "Purple Panther, Part 1" on ''Series/LazyTown'' when the kids start a [=LazyTown=] Museum. Stingy brings in the mayor's old record player that he found lying around and none of the kids have any idea what it is, asking where you put the CD or connect the USB. * This is starting to be a RunningGag on ''Series/{{Revolution}}'', since the younger generation is almost wholly ignorant of pre-Blackout culture. When [[DeadpanSnarker Miles]] comments on Jason's "boyband face", Jason asks what a boyband is. Later on in the second season, Charlie is baffled to learn that granola bars were considered food.* In the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Power Down," a blackout forces the team to work with less advanced technology than they're used to. This includes a device called a mimeograph (not stated in dialogue), an old-style photocopier that only Gibbs knows how to use.* An UnbuiltTrope variant: there was a ''NotTheNineOClockNews'' sketch, back in the days when everyone knew what records were, that had the staff in an electronics store laughing at a man who wanted to buy a gramophone.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]* Music/SteveAlbini, musician and producer (or "recording engineer" as he prefers to be credited, if at all) of many, many obscure and semi-obscure albums, as well as better known albums by Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/PJHarvey, Bush and Music/CheapTrick, declared an inversion in the liner notes of the ''[=CD=] version'' of his own band Music/BigBlack's album ''Music/SongsAboutFucking'': "The future belongs to analog loyalists. Fuck digital". He later re-iterated his [[SarcasmMode vague, non-committal stance on the issue]], releasing two Big Black [=EPs=] on a single CD which he titled ''The Rich Man's 8-Track Tape''.* "The Vinyl Countdown" by Music/RelientK is a song lamenting how kids these days don't know what records are. Naturally, it was a vinyl-exclusive single.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]* This is Apollo's reaction in "A Present for Mom" on ''Series/ThePajanimals'' when Mr. Happy Birthday offers him a jazz record as a present for the Pajanimals mom's birthday.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]* Invoked in ''Radio/CarTalk: The Musical,'' in the form of a joke designed to fly right by anyone under 40. A man is lamenting that, at age 45, he's too young to have a heart attack. His boss tells him, "Hey, 45 is the new 78." Anyone in the audience who laughs has gray hair.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' - Three Dog says "I'm your friendly neighborhood disc jockey. What's a disc? Hell if I know, but I'm gonna keep talking anyway." But VideoGame/{{Fallout}} is very {{Zeerust}}, so records were not replaced with tapes, [=CDs=], and [=MP3s=], but with giant square cassette tapes the size of 45s.* Spider-Man 2099 in ''VideoGame/SpidermanEdgeOfTime'' takes this UpToEleven when he and Amazing Spider-Man talk. Apparently there aren't even ''toasters'' in the future.* In ''VideoGame/GravityFallsLegendOfTheGnomeGemulets'', various [=NPCs=] [[TwentyBearAsses want you to get several of some kind of item]] [[FetchQuest for them]] because they lost these things one way or another. Soos lost some floppy discs, and when he asks you to look for them, he explains they're an old form of data storage and that they're really good for keeping things secret since most computers don't have a way to read them any more. Wendy wants cassette tapes that her dad apparently threw out the car window on a road trip, but she doesn't feel the need to explain what they are, though she does make it clear through context (specifically mentioning that her dad "doesn't appreciate good music").* One of the things Ellie... [[KleptomaniacHero borrows]] from Bill in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' is a music tape, which she hands to Joel: -->'''Ellie:''' Here. This make you all nostalgic?-->'''Joel:''' (chuckling) Y'know, that is actually [[BeforeMyTime before my time]]. That is a winner, though.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]* ''WebAnimation/ButtonsAdventures'': Button's only reaction to trying out ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'' is "I don't get it."* Mikayla from ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'' is constantly called a [[Film/{{Gremlins}} Gremlin]]. Her reply in one episode is "I was born in 2003. I have no idea what a 'Gremlin' is."[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]* Inverted in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' when [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005630 Terezi places a record-themed CD on a gramophone]], causing it to scratch. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B53b2umtysc "Generational Divide"]], courtesy of WebVideo/FiveSecondFilms.* In Brazilian website Charges.com.br, the character Fimose wanted to be a DJ and bought a record player (or a ''big black CD'' like a friend of his called records) and played it like it was a guitar.* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'' explains books in this fashion.* ''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'' takes this line of reasoning with his review of Music/{{Maroon 5}}'s "Payphone".* Played straight in an episode of "The Marshmallow Money Show" (a now-defunct online Flash series that was on the old Creator/CartoonNetwork website), when one character notes that record stores nowadays only sell [=CDs=] and tapes, yet are still called "''record'' stores", to which another character quickly responds "What's a record?"* Happens with LetsPlay/TheCreatures in one of their game nights. While playing a video game version of ''Series/FamilyFeud'', one of the questions was "Name something someone would plug in." [[UberHaxorNova Nova]] enters "VCR" and is annoyed when he receives zero points for that answer, claiming that people still own VCR's even if they're not popular anymore.* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26eQ3QpNB6Q This]] [=BuzzFeed=] video explains the concept of VHS and brick-and-mortar video stores in a way that assumes that today's kids only know about Netflix and other streaming services.* ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' occasionally reviews old computer games, prompting Spoony to explain to the youngsters what floppy disks were.* [[WebVideo/{{React}} Kids React To...]] (and occasionally ''Teens React'') demonstrates this trope with things like [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pCp8g-VjOs the first Gameboy]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk_vV-JRZ6E Walkmans]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfxRfkZdiAQ Typewriters]], among other things.* ''Website/TheOnion'':** ''The Onion'' as a video satire called "[[http://www.theonion.com/video/historic-blockbuster-store-offers-glimpse-of-how-m,14233/ Historic ‘Blockbuster’ Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past]]" with all the actors playing out this trope.** Lampshaded in a profile of the year's incoming freshman college students: "Chalkboards, paper books, and VHS tapes are all items they’ve been told they don’t remember or recognize."[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'':** One of the earliest uses of this trope was an episode entitled "The Record Breakers,": Jon was trying to impress a potential date with his record collection but lacked a record player to actually play them with (due to Garfield and Odie inadvertently breaking it). [[SerialEscalation She didn't know what records were; unfortunately, neither did the clerk at the electronics store. The antiques dealer needed a hint.]] Note: Said dealer was an old man who was a kid the last time he listened to a record and he only listened because his ''grandfather'' introduced him to them.** A similar situation occurred when Jon went to buy a new wastebasket and tried to pay with cash (he'd cut up all his credit cards after Garfield had abused them one time too many). The clerk had no idea what ''paper money'' was... and, as it turns out, ''no one'' would accept cash as legal tender (even the ''police'' had to take the money to a lab to verify that it was, in fact, money). Blatantly obvious ArtisticLicenseEconomics in service of RuleOfFunny.* Used in ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'', with Suzie Carmichael.* ''{{WesternAnimation/Rugrats}}'' averted this, as Chuckie could sometimes be seen playing records (like in "Down the Drain" and "Chuckie's Bachelor Pad"), and Angelica was seen [[VinylShatters breaking Chuckie's records for kicks]] in "Give and Take." Then again the series takes place in the early to late 1990s, not too long after records began being displaced.* Inverted by Mayor on ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', who tries to play a CD on an old-fashioned record player (and proceeds to mistake the horrible scratching noises that ensue for "techno music"). * Played straight in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Francine Frensky, Superstar". (Note: This was one of the earliest episodes of the show, the first season of a program that is [[LongRunner in its nineteenth season as of early 2016]] and shows no sign of stopping.) The kids shot blank looks at Mr. Ratburn when he talked about Thomas Edison's invention, the phonograph, and prompted the following exchange:-->'''Ratburn:''' It was before CDs. It played music, with a needle.\\'''Binky:''' Is that a joke?** This may explain why in the later episode "Popular Girls" (Season 3), during a spring break day camp, one group of Arthur's classmates brings in vintage/antique things, and when Jenna demonstrates a record player, the kids all "Oooh" in awe.* Used liberally in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' pretty much anytime old technology is mentioned or found.-->'''Professor Farnsworth:''' Show us this... "The Wheel".* Not records, but in the same spirit of the trope: An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has Terry going to the home of a ScienceFiction writer, and finding a typewriter. He pokes at it and asks, "What is this? Some kind of word processor?"* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' had the Turtles take cover behind a stack of boxes. Raphael looks into the boxes and the following conversation takes place:-->'''Raphael:''' Donatello, what are these?-->'''Donatello:''' They're records. They're what people used to listen to before they had compact discs.-->'''Michaelangelo:''' Whoa! Someone really burned these pizzas!* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', the grandmother gave Kim's younger brothers a collection of vinyl records. This was played with: they knew what the records were, and were excited to receive them.-->'''First twin:''' Wow, vinyl records! The legends were true!-->'''Second twin:''' C'mon, let's burn them into {{MP3}}s!* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'':** Both played straight and subverted. In "Quick Shot Ed": The Eds are rummaging through Eddy's attic, Ed finds a 7-inch 45rpm record and says: "I found a doughnut!" Eddy corrects him and says: "That's a record, chowderhead."** Also subverted with Eddy having a turntable in his bedroom and is frequently seen playing records. Then again, this could just as easily be an aversion, as ''Ed Edd n Eddy'' isn't really set in a particular time period (it's implied to be in the 2000s but [[RetroUniverse could pass for the 1970s]] just as easily). Regardless, it's justified by Ed being TheDitz CloudCuckoolander. His knowledge of everything is a bit... off.* In the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "Just Another Manic-Kahn Day", Bobby and Joseph find a box of Hank's old record albums. Bobby knows what they are but Joseph picks up a record and says: "The computer these things go into must be huge!"* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', Cleveland takes Rallo to a record store ("it's where insufferable people come to find obscure music no one likes") and Rallo asks "where do they keep the [=MP3s=]?" Cleveland tells him that records have a warm sound you can't reproduce digitally, then puts on a hissing, skipping record. "Takes me back".* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Brian tries to impress a girl in a club.-->'''Brian''': You know, I wrote a book.-->'''Girl''': What's that?-->'''Brian''': It's like a really long magazine.-->'''Girl''': What?-->'''Brian''': It's like the internet made out of a tree.-->'''Girl''': Weird...* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' has Cyborg tell the other Titans they couldn't program a VCR...and being the ''Teen'' Titans, none of the others have any idea what a VCR is. Starfire (being an alien) and Beast Boy (being the youngest) have excuses but Robin at least seems old enough that he should know what they are. RuleOfFunny is obviously the reason why.* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':** Lampshaded (like [[BetterThanABareBulb so many other things]]) in episode "Phineas and Ferb's Clip-Tastic Countdown", when Dr. Doofenshmirtz complains about a MonkeysOnATypewriter joke by pointing out how unlikely it is that any of the kids watching at home will know what a typewriter is.** Also, Linda seems to be the only ''[[{{UpToEleven}} person]]'' in the entire Tri-State Area who remembers analog and disposable still cameras.* From ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark,'' when Stan is trying to convince the Goth Kids to buy their UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 early instead of waiting until they're cheaper:-->'''Stan:''' [[SeriousBusiness Battle lines are being drawn]]! If you wait it out, but everyone else has already decided to go with [[XBoxOne XBox]], then that will become the standard! The [=PS4=] would be like Betamax was to VHS.-->'''Henrietta:''' What's Betamax?-->'''Stan:''' ''[[AppealToObscurity Exactly]]!''-->'''Pete:''' What's VHS?* Averted on ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig''. When Peppa and her little brother George find a record player in Granny and Grandpa's attic, both seem to immediately recognize it for what it is and Peppa asks them to play the record they found with it.* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Teenager Sadie mistakes Steven asking what is ''on'' a specific VHS [[AmbiguousSyntax for him asking]] what ''is'' a VHS. She tells him it's basically a box-shaped DVD. Steven [[ContinuityNod was previously shown]] to own a VCR and a decent collection of tapes.* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewMrPeabodyAndShermanShow'', Peabody tries to do a show about his vinyl record collection, but Sherman has no idea what he's talking about and assumed the episode was about world records instead.-->'''Sherman''': What's a vinyl record?-->'''Peabody''': It's like a CD!-->'''Sherman''': What's a CD?* In a season 27 episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart and Lisa find a pile of old cathode tube television sets and say that "they're like [=TVs=], but they seem to go on forever." Ironically, they're like the [=TV=] the Simpsons used to have in earlier seasons.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]* Music/FrankZappa was once the victim of an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of this trope. During a legal battle for payment for some music he composed and conducted in Britain, the judge asked what a "record" was. As noted in our article on BritishCourts, however, this was probably intentional on the part of the judge. British judges -- particularly old-school ones -- generally presume ignorance on the part of everyone in court, and ask questions like "what is a record?" just in case a member of the jury or someone reading the court transcripts later on does not know what a record is. The judge most likely knew ''exactly'' what a record was and probably had a collection of them at home.** Considering British lawyers can, when pressed, turn to court decisions from the age of Richard I to bolster their case, the judge's actions were very much justified.* At a certain (non-secret) base in the US there is a room that can only be entered by using the phone on the outside of the room to call the people inside of the room to come and open the door. The phone on the outside of the room is a rotary phone and there have been cases where the new, younger people don't know how to operate the phone.** One has to wonder what the purpose of dialing is if you'll only ever use it to call the other side to open the door. Perhaps they installed it before the invention of the spoken passphrase.*** It may have been installed back when the only thing ''the'' phone company would allow you to attach to ''their'' phone lines was one of ''their'' telephones. Of which there were two varieties: the kind that hangs on the wall, and the kind that sits on a table. It was a regular phone, connected to the regular phone system, with the extension for calling inside the room written on the phone. The purpose was to tell someone inside the room to look at the security camera then come answer the door.* This trope [[WordOfGod is cited by Hasbro]] as the reason [[WhatCouldHaveBeen we'll probably never get]] a toy of [[Franchise/TransformersGenerationOne Soundwave]] that turns into a cassette player ever again. On the other hand, [[Franchise/TransformersGenerationOne Classics Hound]] came with [[TheMinionMaster Ravage]] in what was alternatively referred to as "[[InsistentTerminology Capture Mode]]" or "Cassette Mode", hinting [[FlipFlopOfGod that things could still go one way or the other.]]** Double subverted by various toys first revealed in mid-2012. Soundwave's finally a tape player again, but only in the form of a high-end, collector-oriented "Masterpiece" toy -- the upcoming kid-oriented Soundwave toy is based on his armored car form from ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron''.** Double subverted again in 2016: the ''Titans Return'' subline is going to feature both Soundwave and his Autobot counterpart Blaster as cassette players... except their minions are reinvented as tablets, of all things.* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v75QpvISUs This video]] shows the children of a mother who grew up in the '80s attempt to use technology from that era. At one point, they're shown having trouble figuring out how to control games on the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}} despite it only having a joystick and one button. For contrast, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FLlxq5LSlo this video]] shows kids trying out a UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} with considerably more success and appreciation (once they get past the LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading, at least).* [[http://boingboing.net/2009/06/29/13-year-old-kid-revi.html A 13-year-old boy finds his dad's Sony Walkman]]. It took him, in his own words, ''three days'' to realize that he could take the cassette out, put it in backwards, and get a completely different playlist.* It is a measure of Music/NeilYoung's continued appeal to people of every age on the spectrum that a fan who was twenty-one years old could and did ask "What's an LP?" on a Neil Young mailing list in 2001.* Ironically, this trope may be responsible for more people knowing just what records and other stuff are, if they saw this being used in media and wanted to know just what the joke was.* [[http://notalwaysworking.com/working-against-the-clock/36918 The teenage employee in this Not Always Working anecdote]] had apparently never heard of mechanical watches, despite working in a department store's jewelry department, before attempting to pry the back cover off one, because she thought it needed a battery replacement. * There's much anticipation and discussion of this happening with the universal symbol for "Save This File" on computers - the floppy disc, now very nearly obsolete, and likely to be confusing to the next generation in ten years' time unless some alternative is figured out.* Relatedly, an online question about [[http://superuser.com/questions/231273/what-are-the-windows-a-and-b-drives-used-for why the default drive letter assigned to the main hard disk on a Windows PC is "C" and not "A" or "B"]] led to a lot of "oh my god, I'm an old person" reactions.* In Britain, the warning sign for speed traps is a picture of an antiquated photographic plate camera. Speed cameras being a relatively recent innovation, it seems like a strange glyph to use that would likely confuse people as to what the object actually is.* This trope is part of what brought us ''[[{{WebVideo/React}} Kids React]]'' and its SpinOff ''Teens React''.[[/folder]]----